In Unleashed, once a transaction is completed, it cannot be reversed or undone. This permanent record-keeping system ensures the integrity and reliability of your audit logs, which may span several years. While this might seem restrictive when mistakes occur, this design protects your financial data from accidental changes that could compromise your accounting accuracy.
Why transactions can't be reversed: Maintaining an unchangeable audit trail is crucial for compliance, financial reporting, and business transparency. Once data is committed to your system, it creates a permanent record that auditors, accountants, and regulatory bodies can trust.
Instead of reversing transactions, you'll need to counteract their effects by creating offsetting transactions. Think of this as adding a new entry that undoes the impact of the original mistake, rather than erasing the original entry.
Sales Order, Invoice, or Shipment corrections
When to use this method: You've completed a Sales Invoice, Shipment, or Sales Order transaction with incorrect quantities, pricing, or customer details.
Solution:
Confirm the Sales Order is completed.
In the Sales Order's Invoices tab, hover over the Invoice's action cog and select "Credit".
Confirm the product quantities and prices that need to be corrected.
Choose whether stock should be returned to inventory; tick the Return checkbox if physical goods are being returned
Complete the Credit Note.
Why this works: The Credit Note creates an equal and opposite transaction that neutralizes the financial and inventory impact of the original error.
Credit Note corrections
Credit Notes themselves can be processed incorrectly. The correction method depends on whether the Return checkbox was selected. If the shipment associated with the credit note has not been completed, Unleashed might automatically count the stock back into inventory even without marking the Return checkbox. Be aware of this behavior when processing corrections.
If Return was ticked in the Credit Note
Solution:
Create a new Sales Order for the same customer.
Add the items that were incorrectly credited back.
Use the correct quantities, pricing, and details.
Complete the Sales Order.
Why this approach: Since the credit note already returned the stock to inventory, you simply need to resell it with the correct details. Alternatively, in less complex scenarios, you might consider using a stock adjustment to directly correct inventory levels without issuing additional sales orders.
If Return was unticked in the Credit Note
Solution:
Create a new Credit Note from the original Invoice.
This time, tick the Return checkbox to bring stock back into inventory.
Ensure the invoiced stock has been dispatched before processing.
Once completed, create a Sales Order to resell the stock with correct details.
Complete the Sales Order.
Why this approach: You first need to return the stock to inventory (which the original incorrect credit note didn't do), then resell it correctly. Note that if the shipment related to the original transaction hasn’t been completed, the stock might already be counted as returned in Unleashed even without marking the Return checkbox.
Purchase Order corrections
When to use this method: A Purchase Order was receipted or completed with wrong quantities or pricing.
Solution:
Go to the Purchases > Supplier Return > Add Supplier Return.
Reference the original Purchase Order.
Enter the quantities being returned (matching the error amounts).
Specify the Supplier Return Reasons.
Complete the Supplier Return.
If needed, create a new Purchase Order with the correct details.
Why supplier returns work: This transaction reverses the inventory increase and accounts payable entries created by the incorrect purchase receipt.
Assembly Corrections
When to use this method: An Assembly was completed with wrong components, quantities, or configurations.
Steps:
Go to Inventory > Transactions > Stock Adjustments > Add Adjustment.
Create an adjustment to add back the component items that were used
Use the same quantities and values as the original assembly.
In the same adjustment, remove the assembled stock.
Use the same quantity and value as originally assembled.
Include an Adjustment Reason and complete the adjustment.
If needed, create a new assembly with the correct specifications
Why stock adjustments: Since assemblies transform components into finished goods, at the components' values, you need to manually reverse this transformation by restoring the original components and removing the incorrectly assembled products.
Using stock adjustments helps avoid disrupting stock values or overall balance, even for complex scenarios like duplicates or wastage. This ensures data consistency and confidence in inventory records. Additionally, stock adjustments can be a simpler alternative to complex correction procedures, providing a streamlined way to manage minor discrepancies without additional credit notes or sales orders.
Considerations
Impact on Historical Data: Keep in mind that historical records will remain unchanged, impacting financial reports and inventory valuation until the workaround is applied.
System Limitations: Understanding system constraints regarding modifying completed transactions will help manage expectations. By addressing BOM errors proactively and thoughtfully, you can mitigate potential disruptions to your costing and operational processes.
Updating BOMs for future Assemblies
If errors are identified in a BOM, you can update it to rectify the components and costs. This ensures that all future assemblies use the accurate BOM configuration, which will prevent further discrepancies in COGS due to incorrect component or cost data. However, note that completed assemblies and their related orders cannot be changed retroactively.
Understanding the Accounting impact
These correction methods will affect your accounting platform differently. Here's how each transaction type impacts your financial records:
Purchase Receipt
Stock on Hand (SOH): Increases.
Accounts Payable: Increases.
Purpose: Records goods received from suppliers.
Supplier Return
Stock on Hand (SOH): Decreases.
Accounts Payable: Decreases.
Purpose: Reverses purchase receipts for returned goods.
Sales Invoice
Sales: Increases.
Purpose: Records sale of goods.
Sales Shipment
Stock on Hand (SOH): Decreases.
Cost of Goods Sold (COGS): Increases.
Purpose: Records goods delivered to customers.
Credit Note with Stock Return
Stock on Hand (SOH): Increases.
Cost of Goods Sold (COGS): Decreases.
Sales: Decreases.
Purpose: Reverses sales when physical goods are returned.
Credit Note without Stock Return
Stock on Hand (SOH): No change.
Cost of Goods Sold (COGS): No change.
Sales: Decreases.
Purpose: Financial adjustments like discounts or billing corrections.
Stock Adjustment
Stock on Hand (SOH): Increases or decreases as specified.
Cost of Goods Sold (COGS): Increases if SOH is decreased.
Purpose: Corrects inventory discrepancies, write-offs, or damages.
Best Practices
Act Quickly: Address errors as soon as they're discovered to minimize impact on reporting and decision-making.
Document Everything: Always include detailed notes in your correction transactions explaining what went wrong and why you're making the adjustment.
Review Before Completing: Double-check all correction transactions before finalizing them to avoid creating additional errors.
Monitor Your Accounting: Verify that corrections appear correctly in your connected accounting platform and that all balances reconcile properly.
Learn from Mistakes: Analyze what caused the original error and implement process improvements to prevent similar issues in the future.- Double-Check Return Checkbox: Always verify if the Return checkbox has been appropriately marked during credit note processing to avoid unintended stock movements.
Avoid Unnecessary Complexity: Use stock adjustments for straightforward inventory corrections instead of creating multiple credit notes and sales orders.
Remember, while corrections require additional steps, this system ultimately protects your data integrity and provides a complete audit trail of all business activities.